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Reforms for child protection agencies

The Government has announced details of a package of measures aimed at enhancing youth justice and child protection.

Under the package, 70 jobs will be created in the Probation Service and five in the Irish Youth Justice Service.

The number of judges working exclusively in the Children's Court will be increased by three, while the number of Juvenile Liaison Officers working with young people will increase by 28 over the next four years.

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The Government has also announced that the Garda Commissioner has been asked to review the garda resources in place to monitor the activities of paedophiles and sex offenders.

The Government has said that the new resources will allow it to implement fully the provisions of the 2001 Children's Act in the near future.

Announcing the plans, the Minister for Children, Brian Lenihan, said the Government was committed to ensuring that the needs of children are fully met and today's package would deliver more for those children.

He said the Government is particularly conscious of the need to give priority to addressing the problem of juvenile crime.

He added that juvenile offenders who are not monitored could go on to become serious criminals and wreak havoc.